New Delhi, September 1: The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the telecom companies a ten-year-period to clear their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. The apex court asked the telecom firms to pay 10 per cent of the AGR to be paid by March 31, 2021. On the issue of the spectrum, the apex court agreed that the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will decide on that.

Hearing the plea, the Supreme Court bench -- headed by Justice Arun Mishra -- asked the telecom firms to submit an undertaking to pay AGR dues as per the apex court order. The undertaking will have to be filed by managing directors of the telecom operators. Any default in the AGR payments would invite interest, penalty along with contempt of court, added the bench. Telecom Industry Revenue Expected to Rise 14-15% in 2020-21: COAI.

Here's the ANI Tweet:

As per the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) assessment, the total amount due by top telecom operators in India was Rs 1.19 lakh crore. Vodafone-Idea has AGR dues worth Rs 58254 crore, while Airtel will have to pay Rs 43,989 crore. Meanwhile, Tata Teleservices will have to pay Rs 16,798 crore. Bankrupt telecom operators's AGR dues stand at Rs 40,000 crore -- Aircel (Rs 12,289 crore), Videocon (Rs 1,376) and Reliance Communications (Rs 25,199 crore).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 01, 2020 12:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).